scholarly journals Stretch-Sensitivity of Stretch-Activated BKCa Channels in Post-Hatch Chick Ventricular Myocytes

2010 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 336a
Author(s):  
Gentaro Iribe ◽  
Keiji Naruse
2017 ◽  
pp. 459-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. JIN ◽  
G. IRIBE ◽  
K. NARUSE

Various types of mechanosensitive ion channels, including cationic stretch-activated channels (SACNS) and stretch-activated BKca (SAKca) channels, modulate heart rhythm. Bepridil has been used as an antiarrhythmic drug with multiple pharmacological effects; however, whether it is effective for mechanically induced arrhythmia has not been well investigated. To test the effects of Bepridil on SAKca channels activity, cultured chick embryonic ventricular myocytes were used for single-channel recordings. Bepridil significantly reduced the open probability of the SAKca channel (PO). Next, to test the effects of bepridil on stretch-induced extrasystoles (SIE), we used an isolated 2-week-old Langendorff-perfused chick heart. The left ventricle (LV) volume was rapidly changed, and the probability of SIE was calculated in the presence and absence of bepridil, and the effect of the drug was compared with that of Gadolinium (Gd3+). Bepridil decreased the probability of SIE despite its suppressive effects on SAKca channel activity. The effects of Gd3+, which blocks both SAKca and SACNS, on the probability of SIE were the same as those of bepridil. Our results suggest that bepridil blocks not only SAKca channels but possibly also blocks SACNS, and thus decreases the stretch-induced cation influx (stabilizing membrane potential) to compensate and override the effects of the decrease in outward SAKca current (destabilizing membrane potential).


2011 ◽  
Vol 300 (2) ◽  
pp. H507-H513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gudrun H. Borchert ◽  
Chengtao Yang ◽  
František Kolář

Chronic hypoxia protects the heart against injury caused by acute oxygen deprivation, but its salutary mechanism is poorly understood. The aim was to find out whether cardiomyocytes isolated from chronically hypoxic hearts retain the improved resistance to injury and whether the mitochondrial large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (BKCa) channels contribute to the protective effect. Adult male rats were adapted to continuous normobaric hypoxia (inspired O2 fraction 0.10) for 3 wk or kept at room air (normoxic controls). Myocytes, isolated separately from the left ventricle (LVM), septum (SEPM), and right ventricle, were exposed to 25-min metabolic inhibition with sodium cyanide, followed by 30-min reenergization (MI/R). Some LVM were treated with either 30 μM NS-1619 (BKCa opener), or 2 μM paxilline (BKCa blocker), starting 25 min before metabolic inhibition. Cell injury was detected by Trypan blue exclusion and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. Chronic hypoxia doubled the number of rod-shaped LVM and SEPM surviving the MI/R insult and reduced LDH release. While NS-1619 protected cells from normoxic rats, it had no additive salutary effect in the hypoxic group. Paxilline attenuated the improved resistance of cells from hypoxic animals without affecting normoxic controls; it also abolished the protective effect of NS-1619 on LDH release in the normoxic group. While chronic hypoxia did not affect protein abundance of the BKCa channel regulatory β1-subunit, it markedly decreased its glycosylation level. It is concluded that ventricular myocytes isolated from chronically hypoxic rats retain the improved resistance against injury caused by MI/R. Activation of the mitochondrial BKCa channel likely contributes to this protective effect.


Author(s):  
Tara A Shrout

Cardiac hypertrophy is a growth process that occurs in response to stress stimuli or injury, and leads to the induction of several pathways to alter gene expression. Under hypertrophic stimuli, sarcomeric structure is disrupted, both as a consequence of gene expression and local changes in sarcomeric proteins. Cardiac-restricted ankyrin repeat protein (CARP) is one such protein that function both in cardiac sarcomeres and at the transcriptional level. We postulate that due to this dual nature, CARP plays a key role in maintaining the cardiac sarcomere. GATA4 is another protein detected in cardiomyocytes as important in hypertrophy, as it is activated by hypertrophic stimuli, and directly binds to DNA to alter gene expression. Results of GATA4 activation over time were inconclusive; however, the role of CARP in mediating hypertrophic growth in cardiomyocytes was clearly demonstrated. In this study, Neonatal Rat Ventricular Myocytes were used as a model to detect changes over time in CARP and GATA4 under hypertrophic stimulation by phenylephrine and high serum media. Results were detected by analysis of immunoblotting. The specific role that CARP plays in mediating cellular growth under hypertrophic stimuli was studied through immunofluorescence, which demonstrated that cardiomyocyte growth with hypertrophic stimulation was significantly blunted when NRVMs were co-treated with CARP siRNA. These data suggest that CARP plays an important role in the hypertrophic response in cardiomyocytes.


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